Recalcitrance
by shormarano
Summary: Recalcitrance: The act of resisting authority or control; not obedient or compliant. All he wanted was a normal life, but now that she's in the picture, it's even weirder than before. They say it's not allowed or even possible. But he doesn't care, all he wants is her.
1. Chapter 1

Some may say that mysterious creatures are the entertainment of the world. I'd definitely say it's a good possibility. Now, you may think we don't exist but I assure you, we do. We're hidden in the depth darkness of the night, the deepest trenches and caves. Nowhere to be found in the eye of mankind. Though recently, I have been curious. What could it possibly be like to live a normal human being life for it has been ages since I felt that.

Which is why I'm going back to my home town of Lawrenceville, Georgia. To finally, after 130 years, seek peace and happiness. Although this is the town that I ended my life in, I'm prepared to start a new, fuller one.

I'm Austin Moon. I'm 17 years old logically. But in reality, I'm 147 years old. When I was 17 years old back in 1868, is when I turned into a blood sucking monster. A vampire, if you will. It definitely was not by choice, I would never choose to live my life killing innocent people. I still don't but sometimes, I go off my rocker and it's never pretty. I'm not alone in this though. I have two other people. My sister Payton, and my brother, Aaron. We're vampires and we all died the same day. Payton's 15 or 145, and Aaron is 19 or 149. But I keep forgetting to tell you the best part.

On May 19, 1868, We were walking back from the creek when three things attacked us. We didn't know it at the time, but they weren't animals but vampires. All we know to this day is we were attacked and the next morning we woke up and had blood all over us with huge headaches but had massive amounts of energy. We didn't even know we were dead until a few hours later we walked up to a funeral and it had our parents and family there with pained looks on their faces with our headstones.

Now you've seen what else has happened through time. We've gotten older, stronger, wiser. Not older in looks, just age. Since we're in our hometown, we're staying in an old, secluded mansion so we don't risk anyone finding the place and seeing anything they don't need to see.

"Austin, get up!" Aaron says as he bangs on the door. I groan before standing up and trudging to the door.

"What could you possibly want?" I ask as I peak my head through the door.

"It's time for your first day of school." he says smiling cockily.

"Oh yeah." I say before closing my bedroom door again. I slowly walk to my dresser and pull out some simple jeans and a black v-neck paired with some black shoes.

I mess my hair up a little before I grab my bag and walk out of my room and into the kitchen. "Where's Payton?" I ask as I grab something

to drink from the fridge.

"She's still getting ready." he says with a roll of his eyes.

I just chuckle and before I know it, my sister comes downstairs with a frown on her face. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I ask.

"Why should I go to school? You're the only one who wanted to have a 'normal life'" she says putting air quotes around normal life.

"Considering we're back in this town we need to blend in and be normal and a 15 year old who goes to school is pretty normal." he says handing her her bag.

She just groans before grabbing a blood bag from the fridge and walking out into the garage. Aaron and I look at each other. "She'll warm up." we say in unison before I chuckle and walk away.

I go outside and get into my car as I see her pouting in the passenger seat. I start the car and pull out of the driveway before making any type of conversation. "So you're totally excited. I can tell." I say in a girl voice.

She just rolls her eyes. "I don't know why you're mad at me I'm not the one who's making you go to school." I point out as a matter of fact.

She continues to ignore me as we pull into the school parking lot. "So, would you like me to walk you to your first class?" I ask cheekily before she throws up the middle finger and gets out of the car.

I grab my bag and get out as I look around at the student body and smile. My new life starts now. I walk into the school and get some states, not as many as I expected. I navigate my way to the office and greet the lady at the desk. "How may I help you?" she asks as she crosses her fingers.

"I'm new here. My name's Austin Moon." I tell her as I look around admiring my surroundings.

"Ah yes, Austin Moon. Here is your schedule, your locker essentials, and the textbooks for some of your classes. If you need anything just let me know." she finishes with a warm smile.

I nod and say thank you as I grab the things and make my way to the door. Once I open the door and step out, I bump into someone. Catching myself and the person from falling, I move my feet and my hands to hold this person up. It's not until a few seconds later when I notice the person. I look up and my breath hitches at the sight of her. She's easily one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen. I quickly snap out of that trance as I see her picking up the books she dropped. "Oh, sorry. I didn't know you were behind the door." I say as I rub the back of my neck.

She chuckles before standing up. "It's totally fine. I'm a klutz naturally so something like this was bound to happen. At least it was only my books." she says thankfully.

I nod, not looking at her. "Well I better go find my locker." I say casually looking down at the paper. "I'll see you later..." I stop remembering that I don't know her name.

"Ally. My names Ally." she smiles. "You are?"

"I'm Austin." I say confidently.

"Well it was nice meeting you Austin and I hope to see you around." she says as she moves to the side. We end up doing that really creepy thing where the other person moves in one direction that just so happens to be the same direction you were moving in. Yeah, that happened about three times.

I walk to find my locker as I see my sister laughing and talking with some girls. I can't believe this. With all of the crap she gave me this morning about not wanting to go and here is. Best friends with the entire Sophomore class. I roll my eyes as I get out the book for my first class, History.

I walk into class and try to find an empty seat before the teacher notices me and instructs me to go to his desk. "Who are you?" he asks while glaring at me. Wow, first class of the day and the first teacher that I already seem to hate.

"I'm Austin. I'm new here." I say as I look out to the class.

"Where did you think you were going?" the man asks.

"To a seat?" I say but it comes out as more of a question.

"I have a strict searing policy in here and you must respect and follow it." he says pointing a finger at me.

"Okay... then where do you want me to sit?" I ask looking back at the class.

He points to the seat in the back. The exact same seat I was headed to. "But that was the—Nevermind." I start but stop myself.

"That's what I thought." he says before sitting back down and taking a sip of his black coffee. Of course it's black. Dude, I could jump over this desk and run and break you before you could even swallow that.

As the boring class drags on and on I can't seem

to get that girl Ally out of my head. There's just something about her that intrigues me. Once the class finally ends up being over I get out as quick as possible—only to end up bumping into someone again. "I am really really sorry I'm such a— oh it's you." Ally says as she notices me.

I chuckle. "Yeah.. and it's you." I say pointing to her.

"We really need to quick meeting like this." she says blushing.

"You can just admit that you're obsessed with me and this will be all over with." I smirk.

"Oh okay." she scoffs.

I shake my head. "I'm kidding. But I do have to go so I'll see you around and let's all hope that I don't see you again by bumping into you." I say as I start walking away.

"Got it. I'll lose my obsession." she jokes as she turns and walks away.

As I'm walking to my next class I see Payton so she stops and talks to me. "So, how's your day been going?" I ask cheekily and she knows exactly why.

"Okay okay. So this school isn't so bad but some of these people are annoying and I'm hungry." she says looking at some innocent people and licking her lips.

"Hey would you cool it? Stop looking at people like you're going to eat them for lunch." I say with a roll of my eyes.

"I mean... I could." she says honestly.

"No," I deadpan. "You can't just go around eating people. Especially not here, not in this town, not in this school." I say walking away.

So, high school isn't as awful as any of us expected it to be. It's necessarily not as fun as I had hoped it would be but its not totally awful since I know and lived through most of the events they're talking about anyway.

Finally, the day ends and as I'm walking to my car I can smell something. Blood. It's like a mile away probably but I can smell it as if it's right in front of me. That's one of the downsides to vampirism. You can smell when anyone within a certain mile radius is bleeding or has blood on them and the. you can track them down. Some of the upsides are very good hearing, super strength, and super speed.

I ignore the smell as I get into my car and drive out of the parking lot of the school. But as I get farther, the smell gets stronger and the urge to go and find this person is getting harder to ignore. Once I turn a corner, I see someone on the ground gripping their ankle. I try to get a closer look and I immediately wish I hadn't. It's Ally. I try to lean down and drive past her but once she looks into the car, I know she can tell its me so I quickly turn around and get out of the car.

She has tears in her eyes and it's a really sad sight to see. "Here, let me help you up." I say wrapping my hands around her under her knees and her back. I fight the urge as I can smell and see the blood on her ankle as I lift her onto the seat of the car and get in on the other side.

I start driving again as she finally speaks, "you can just take me home."

"Isn't your ankle broken or sprained?" I ask.

"No probably not." she says and then there's just more silence.

"Thank you." she says after that awkward brief silence.

"For what?" I ask honestly.

"Helping me. especially since you didn't know me." she says and smiles the first smile I've seen since we got in the car. It's a really pretty smile. Here I go again...

"It was nothing. Anything to help a pretty girl." I say with a wink.

She blushes and looks out the window as she continues to hold her ankle. "Are you sure you don't need me to take you to the hospital?" I ask focusing on her as we're at a red light.

"Yeah I'm sure. I don't even think it's broken. It doesn't hurt that bad anymore, it just looks swollen, and bleeding." she says.

I wince at that sentence as I lean back in the back of my car and pull out a towel. I hand it to her and she looks at me crazy before wrapping it around her ankle. "So care to tell me why you have a random towel in your car?" she asks as she looks at me.

I smile. "It's not mine. My brother drives this sometimes because he's always wrecking his car so he must've left it in here after he did something." I shrug.

She hums and nods her head as she applies the pressure of the towel onto her still bleeding ankle. I look over and see the blood seeping through. I cringe and twitch in my seat as I readjust my hands on the steering wheel. I would ask again if she wanted to I go to the hospital but I'm trying to make it a little better for me considering I hate blood and it would only make the need and want stronger.

Once we finally, and I mean finally, make it to Ally's house, I quickly help her out of the car as I pick her up and bring her to the door. I knock twice and wait, and wait, and wait, and then finally a lady opens the door so I help Ally inside.

"Listen, I really would like to see how it goes with," I gesture to her leg. "your leg and all but my brother needs me home soon." I say gesturing to the clock on the wall.

Ally looks at the time before smiling. "Oh yeah I'm sorry for keeping you," she says while trying to stand up.

"Oh no it's okay," I say helping her sit back down. "I'm glad I could help." I finish with a smile.

"Well thank you so much. Really, I don't even want to imagine what I would be doing or where I would be right now if it weren't for you." she says gratefully.

"It was nothing." I say nonchalantly.

"Bye Austin." she waves.

I wave goodbye as I walk out of the house and get into my car. I sigh as I drive away and soon her house isn't in sight.

I think I'm going to like High School. For now.


	2. Chapter 2

"Austin, get up! Reality is calling." Aaron yells in an attempt to get me out of bed.

I groan before hiding my face with a pillow. "Austin, get the hell up." he orders as he grabs the cover off my bed.

I groan as I take the pillow off of my face and look at him. He smiles. "Good morning sunshine. School starts in an hour so I suggest you get up," he says walking towards the door. "You know, that's what normal teenage boys do."

I roll my eyes as I stand up and stretch my limbs. I throw on some jeans and a white wife beater paired with a black jacket. I put on my converse and grab my bag as I make my way downstairs.

I grab a blood bag from the fridge and drink it as I see my sister hopping down the stairs with a smile on her face. "Why are you so smitten?" Aaron asks as I throw the bag away.

"I just got invited to a senior's party!" she squeals.

"Huh, and to think at first you didn't want to be a regular teen." I mock her as I grab my bag and walk to my car.

I can practically see her rolling her eyes behind my back. I snicker as I get into the car and wait for her. I turn on the radio to kill the awkward silence. The music has gotten so much better over the years. I know everyone would be incredibly disappointed if they were alive now or vice versa.

Once Payton finally gets into the car, we make our way to school. I park and she hurries up to get out as she makes her way to her friends. I get out and take a look around at the school that I've become used to in these past couple of weeks.

I walk in school and head directly to my locker. Quickly, I start making my way into my first class of the day, history. I'm usually pretty good in this class. Ya know, considering I've lived through lots and or most of these events. I sit down at my seat as I wait for the rest of the students to file in.

"Hey stranger." Ally jokes as she sits down across from me.

"Uh hey." I smile as she starts copying down the notes.

"Okay class, today we will be talking about the Civil War. First to start off, what year was the civil war?" he asks and Ally is the first to raise her hand.

"The Civil War lasted from 1861-1865." she says with a smile.

"Very good. Now, let's talk about who won the civil war. Of course the North did but,-" he starts but I raise my hand.

"Actually sir, neither the North and South truly won the war because Robert E Lee surrendered the last confederate army." I state.

"He surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant on April 9th, 1865." Ally argues.

"At the Appomatox Courthouse, to be exact." I notify her as she glares at me.

I stand up as she does and next thing I know we're in each other's faces glaring daggers. "The war was fought in Virginia and Tennessee." she argues as she looks up to me with her small five foot three and my six foot two.

"Actually it was fought in many different places but only a majority was fought in Virginia and Tennessee." I smirk.

"About 620,000 soldiers died in the war due to various causes such as combat, starvation, accident, and starvation." she crosses her arms over her chest.

"The North was expected to win due to its many advantages of supplies, manufacturing, strong navy, and population. The North had over 22 million people while the South had about 9 million." I finish with another smirk.

"The top three bloodiest battles of the war were Gettysburg: 51,000 casualties, Chickamauga: 32,624 casualties, and Spotsylavania: 30,000 casualties." she says and the bell rings.

I can feel my face transforming so I quickly

grab my bag and rush out of the room. I can hear her shows clicking against the floor as she runs after me. "Austin, I thought we were just kidding!" she exclaims as I turn the corner in an attempt to draw her away from following me.

I quickly run into the guy's bathroom. After a few seconds, I don't hear her anymore so I assume she's gone. What just happened to me? I've never almost lost control like that before.

If I would have lost control right there on Ally, then everything would be ruined. My life, our friendship, her life. I would never forgive myself if I let something happen to Ally. Let alone me being the cause of her pain.

I regain my control as I slowly walk out of the bathroom to just be sure she's gone. Once I'm out I walk out of the school not bothering to tell anyone. I need to get out of there and away from Ally as quick as possible.

I send Payton a text letting her know that she'll have to find a ride home. I drive out of the parking lot and go down the road as I think of these past events. I wind up back at the house as I barge in. I walk into the den to see Aaron there on the phone. He looks shocked to see me but softens as he ends the phone call.

"We need to talk." I say as I point to him.

"Okay, but first, why are you out of school?"he asks as he sits down.

"I'll get to that once we start talking." I sit down across from him.

His silence is a motion for me to keep talking so I take a deep breath before looking at him. "I almost lost control today."

His eyes widen. "I don't know what happened. This girl and I were in class and we started this debate on the Civil War and she always had some type of answer to come back with and it was so annoying that once the bell had started ringing, I felt my face turning so I got out of there and away from her as soon as possible."

"Okay, the most important thing is that she didn't see anything, correct?" he asks.

"Yeah there's no way she could have." I convince myself.

"This usually doesn't happy anymore Austin. Is there something you're not telling me?" he narrows his eyes at me.

"No. It's just some girl in class that I started a debate with today and-"

"Do you have a certain infatuation with this girl?" he asks with a smirk.

"No... I barely know her." I say as I run a hand through my hair.

"That's not what I asked. So, tell me about her." he leans back.

"Well she's warm, and kind, she's smart, selfless, curious, funny, and an all around amazing person." I say as I look at him.

"Do you think she's beautiful?"

"Definitely. One of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen." I smile.

"Brother, I think you're in love with her." he smiles before patting my shoulder and walking out of the room.

Did he not get enough to eat today? There's no way I'm in love with Ally or even have any type of feelings towards her. I've known her for only a few weeks and I've barely said two sentences to her.

I shake my head as I get up and walk out of the room. I come to the kitchen to find Aaron again, talking on the phone. My phone beeps so I grab it and read the new text message I just received.

 _Party at Logan Jones' house tonight._

Maybe that's the party that Payton was talking about getting invited to. But why would she get invited if she's just a freshman and Logan is a senior? This couldn't be good. Guess I'm going to a party tonight.

At around nine I decide to make my way to the party. Payton had left about thirty minutes prior and I didnt want her to know that I was going if she didn't have to. Hell, even if I did tell her I was going she wouldn't believe me, the partying scene really isn't my thing.

I pull up to this kid's house I get out and I can hear the music pounding from the inside. I walk inside and see the hustle of teens dancing, drinking, talking, and laughing. I walk towards the kitchen and in that moment, I bump into someone. "You know, we should really stop meeting like this." Ally giggles before taking a sip of her drink from that fimilar red solo cup.

"I don't know, I'm kind of liking this routine we got going on here." I tease as I grab a cup and pour the drink into the glass.

"Sorry about earlier," she pauses. "I didn't know you would get so offended over history."

"Oh yeah, love History. It makes me crazy because I'm so obsessed." I joke once again.

She laughs. "No I'm just kidding. Don't worry about it, I shouldn't have gotten so pissed at you anyway." I shake my head.

"Guy PMSing?" she asks as she raises her eyebrows and plasters a smirk on her face.

"Sure," I chuckle.

"So, do you come to parties often?" she asks.

"Nah, it's not really my thing. In case you couldn't tell, I'm a loser." I whisper in her ear.

"Me neither, I'm only here on my friends part. She didn't want to come alone." she rolls her eyes.

"So, why is loser boy here anyway?" she asks after a brief silence.

I laugh. "Honestly, my sister is here, and she's a freshman."

"I see. Well, that's very nice of you." she hits her cup against mine.

I can tell she's getting a bit tipsy. "You don't drink much, do you?" I ask with slight humor in my voice.

"What gave it away?" she asks slightly smiling.

"Smart girls usually don't usually do stupid things like drinking... that, and you can barely stand up straight." I answer with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah you may be right but you could be wrong." she points a finger at me before raising the glass to her lips once more.

"Yeah I could be. But I'm not." I tease once more.

She rolls her eyes and turns her head but not before I notice a small smile playing on her lips.

"Well this has been fun, but I think I should go." she starts to walk but starts to fall.

I catch her just in time before she hits the ground. "You know what, I'll take you home." I offer.

"No, you have to watch your sister." she argues.

"I'll take care of it." I set her down on a chair. "Just, stay here. Don't leave with anyone, don't move." I say before walking off. I hear her mutter a silent "Sure dad," I snicker before walking off to find Payton.

I find her talking to some guys who I could care less about. "I'm handling something so I'm leaving my car here for you to take back home." I notify her.

"It's not like I'll forget it." she rolls her eyes.

"Well you're drinking so it could happen," I argue.

"Have you suddenly forgot that we have a high tolerance for alcohol. Hello, vampire." she points to herself.

"Could you be any louder? Thanks." I roll my eyes before handing her the keys and walking away.

I walk back to the kitchen to see that Ally isn't there. I groan as I walk around the kitchen and make sure that she's still not here. I walk into the living room. Nope, nothing. Where the hell could she have gone. I was gone for what, 5 minutes?

I walk upstairs and check the bedrooms in hope that she's not in any of these rooms getting molested or something. After I've checked the entire house, I walk outside.

Once I get out there, I look around the entire house to double-triple check that she's not here. I go to my car to drive and go look for her when I find her, leaning against the car on the ground. "Ally, come here." I kneel down and hug her close to my chest.

She groans at the sudden movement so I quickly pick her up and hold her bridal style. I know it would make more sense to just drive my car but Ally literally lives like a block away and it would be pointless when I could just walk and get there faster.

I start walking down the street with her totally asleep in my arms. I look down at her sleeping form and involuntarily smile. After about a minute of walking, she starts to stir awake. At first she's freaked out but as soon as she realizes that it's me, she relaxes.

"What happened?" she groans.

"You had a bit too much to drink." I point out matter-of-factly.

She groans but squirms under my grasp so I stop to set her down. She holds her head and falls over a bit so I grab her by the waist as I lean us against the wall. "I don't think you're in the best shape to walk." I chuckle.

"Me neither." she groans.

"If it makes you feel any better, we're almost to your house."

She looks up at me and stares for a bit as it trying to see what I'm thinking. "You know you have really pretty eyes." she giggles.

"Thank you, I get my looks from my mom." I tease with a wink.

She giggles and it soon disappears as she looks down at our position. Her against a wall with my arms around either side of her face. I quickly back away. I rub the back of my neck as she coughs.

"Well, we're close to your house so let's go." I motion for her to get in my arms.

"No that'll look weird." she giggles.

"I don't really care what anyone thinks and I highly doubt you would at this hour and in your condition." I point out.

She nods in understanding as I pick her up with ease. "You picked me up with no problem at all." she points out quite shocked.

"Well it's not like you're heavy. You weigh like what, negative ten pounds?" I question.

"Ha-ha funny. I'll have you know that I weigh more than that. I don't know how much that is at this point because all of my words seem foreign to me so I'll tell you another day." she closes her eyes and lays her head on my chest.

I chuckle as I turn the corner onto Ally's street. I arrive at her house and decide against walking in through the front door in fear that her parents would wake up and she'd get in trouble. I walk around back and see a open window with pink curtains so I just assume and hope, that it's her room. I close my eyes and jump up to the window as I climb through with her sleeping form still in my arms. I lay her down on her bed an tuck her under the covers.

"Goodnight Ally." I whisper as I make my way towards the window while faintly hearing a "Goodnight Austin."


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey, wait up," Aaron calls to me before I head out the door for school.

I stop and turn around, chewing on the straw sticking out of my blood bag. "Yeah?"

"You got back pretty late Saturday night."

"I know," I say. "You were asleep."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I had to be somewhere all day Sunday," he replies.

"Oh, really? I didn't notice you were gone while I was at home," I say sarcastically.

Aaron rolls his eyes. "Anyway, how come you got home so late?"

"I went to a party. I know you're not familiar with being a normal teenager like I am, but when you go to a party, you get home late."

"Whatever. You were home later than I expected."

"Cool. Can I go now?"

"You took Ally home, didn't you?"

I roll my eyes and set my blood bag down. "How'd you know?"

"Because you are completely whipped for her."

"I am _not_ whipped-"

"Austin, don't even try to pull that on me. You love her."

I rolls my eyes again, but decide against arguing with him. I'll never win.

"You loving her isn't necessarily a bad thing," he continues, "as long as you don't do anything about it. Recalcitrance is the biggest crime a vampire can commit. Dating a human is so bad, the name of the crime literally means resisting authority."

"Yeah, I know that," I say. "But it doesn't matter because I don't even like her, much less love her."

"The rule is there for a reason, you know," Aaron says, ignoring me. "Vampires…we're dangerous. You know what happens when we get angry. Imagine if we got angry at a human. If you're dating someone, arguments are bound to happen. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

"Yeah, whatever. Can I go _now_?"

"Wait." He grabs my arm. "Let me just tell you a story really quick."

"I'm too old for story time," I say, shaking my arm free.

"Remember my old girlfriend, Claire?"

"The one from the sixties?"

"That's the only time I've had a girlfriend," he deadpans. "Anyway, you know how she was human, but I didn't care about the rule because I loved her? And then she moved away?"

"Yes, I remember," I say. "What about her?"

"She didn't actually move away. I lied."

"Alright, I'm listening. What happened?"

Aaron pulls out a chair from the kitchen table and sits in it. I sigh and do the same, grabbing my blood bag and taking small sips from it.

"Well, one day we got in an argument, and I got angry. She knew what I was, so she knew what was happening, but it was too late. She, uh, she tried to get away, but obviously with vampire speed that was pointless. I caught her and…Austin, I _killed_ her. I loved her, and I _killed_ her because some stupid argument made me get mad and lose it. Vampires can't date humans because we will end up killing them."

I'm stunned into silence. I can't even imagine Aaron killing anyone. Even though he's a vampire and loses control when he's angry like the rest of us, I can't see him _actually_ killing an innocent human.

"I know," he says. "And…I really did love her. I never thought in a million years I'd lose control and do that to her, but that's the thing. We are _vampires_ , Austin. We are dark creatures who aren't supposed to live among humans because we are _killers_."

"I…Wow, I can't even imagine that. I'm sorry, Aaron."

"Yeah," he says distantly.

"But I don't see what that has to do with me because I don't love Ally."

"Whatever," Aaron says.

"I really am sorry about what happened with Claire, though. That sounds awful. Did the Vampire Council ever catch you?"

He shakes his head. "No, thank goodness. The punishment for a vampire dating a human is being locked up for the rest of your life. Which is forever."

"I think that's dumb. I mean, yeah, dating humans is bad and I understand why the rule is there, but being locked up forever for dating a human is a little harsh," I say.

"I think it's fitting."

"So you think _you_ should be locked up forever?" I ask.

"Well-" he starts.

"Whatever, I don't care," I say. "I gotta get to school. See you later."

I throw away my empty blood bag and rush out the door. Payton probably already left, and if not, she can find her own ride to school.

As I drive, I think about what Aaron told me. I can't believe he'd actually kill his girlfriend because he lost control. I mean, I understand that when we get angry, we go on a killing spree that we can't really stop, but I don't get how he could kill his own _girlfriend_ , the girl he was in love with.

I don't want to admit it, but thinking about that does worry me. What if I get mad for some reason-like in history the other day-and hurt Ally? What if I _kill_ her? I don't want to hurt anyone else, but Ally's the only human I really spend time with, so I'm mostly worried about her. I don't want to hurt her, but if Aaron could kill his girlfriend, I'm sure that if I lost control nothing would stop me from killing her if she was in the way.

Once I arrive at school, I try to push my worries from my mind. Aaron only told me that to explain why the rule that vampires can't date humans is in place. I'm not dating Ally, and I don't want to, so in theory I have no reason to be worried.

When I walk in the history classroom, Ally walks over to me.

"Hey, Austin," she says.

"Hey. What's up?"

"Did you happen to take me home from the party the other night? I feel like I saw you, but…I can't really remember."

"Yeah, I took you home," I tell her. "You were _really_ drunk."

"I know," she says, giggling. "Hopefully I wasn't too embarrassing."

"Nah, you were fine," I say with a smile. I start walking to my seat, but she stops me.

"Wait," she says. "Just one question."

I stop and turn to face her again. "Yeah?"

"How did you manage to get me up to my room when the door was locked?"

Shoot. It's not like I can tell her I jumped. I'm pretty sure normal humans don't have the ability to just jump to second-story windows.

"I found the key under the doormat," I lie, hoping for the best.

"We don't keep the key under the doormat," she tells me.

"Well, that's where it was. I'll talk to you later."

I rush to my seat before she can ask me any more questions.

After class, I don't wait for Ally before leaving the classroom. As much as I'd like to talk to her because she's pretty much my only friend here, I really don't want to deal with any more of her questions.

As I walk down the hall, I listen to everyone else's conversations. It's not like I'm _trying_ to eavesdrop, but my heightened vampire senses allow me to hear so much better than before. It's more like picking up on things than actually listening to them.

For example, some kid whines to his friend about getting detention for being late to class again, and some other kid is mad because she got yelled at for braiding her friend's hair in class.

But then I hear something that grabs my attention.

"Yeah, Ally's definitely one of the hottest girls in school, but everyone says she hasn't slept with anyone yet. I'm gonna ask her out and be the first."

I stop walking and look for the speaker. I assume it's the tall brunette kid talking to a circle of laughing guys. I walk over to him, trying to keep my anger under control.

"What was that about Ally?" I ask.

"Oh, you're the new kid. Ally, the sexy brunette who's in all honors classes-"

"I know who she is," I interrupt.

"Yeah, well she's still a virgin. She won't be when I'm through with her," he says with a wicked smile.

"What makes you think she'll want to sleep with you?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"Of course she will. And if not, I'll convince her."

I clench my jaw and take a deep breath, though I can feel my face starting to change. I throw a punch at the guy's nose and then run away before anyone sees my face.

* * *

Once I calm down, I hurry home. Aaron's there, watching TV and eating popcorn. I walk over and sit next to him.

"Shouldn't you be at school?" he asks.

"I got mad and almost lost control today. Again," I tell him.

He sighs. "What happened?"

"Well, I was walking down the hall and this kid was talking about getting Ally to sleep with him, and-"

"Say no more," he says, holding up a hand to stop me.

"Do you really think I love her?" I ask him, raising my eyebrows. "Be honest."

"Honestly, I do. You've known her for not even a week, and you're already defending her and constantly talking about her and doing things for her you wouldn't normally do."

"I don't feel like I love her."

"Dude, you're, like, obsessed with her."

"I'm not obsessed with her."

"Fine. I stand by my previous statement of you being completely whipped, though."

"Whatever. That story about you and Claire…that won't happen to me and Ally, right?" I ask him. It's obvious how nervous I am about this; even _I_ can hear it in my voice.

"I mean, you never know. It could, if you get angry and she's there."

"So, what am I supposed to do, never talk to her again? I can't do that. She's the only human friend I have."

"You could make new friends," Aaron suggests.

"Then I'd be in the same situation, just different people."

"No, because you wouldn't be in love with those different people."

I roll my eyes. "I'm not in love with Ally."

"If you honestly thought you weren't in love with her, that story wouldn't have scared you so much," Aaron tells me knowingly. "Somewhere deep down, you know there's a possibility of it."

"I hardly know her!"

"And yet," Aaron says. "Anyway, if you wanna keep hanging out with her, the only thing I can tell you is not to date her. It would just make everything worse, and Recalcitrance-"

"Is the biggest crime a vampire can commit. I know. I wasn't born yesterday."

"Just reminding you," Aaron says, putting his hands up in mock surrender.

"I didn't need it."

I grab a handful of popcorn and grab my keys. I have to get out of here and clear my head. Aaron most definitely will _not_ help me do that.

I drive to the outskirts of town. Though it's been overgrown by bushes and weeds, I can still see the familiar dirt road from so many years ago. I turn onto the road and drive for another mile before a house comes into view. Not just any house, _my_ house.

The house I grew up in back when I was still human. It's run-down, and abandoned, and dirty, and it too has been overgrown by plants, but it's still recognizable. It may be barely standing and look as though if I just blew on it it would completely collapse, but it looks more welcoming than ever at this moment. I walk over to it slowly, and then walk around it, taking it in. This house is over a hundred years old, and somehow it's still here. Some pieces are missing, yes, but it's here. Just like I am.

I sit down on the wooden porch steps, which creak under my weight, and look out at the woods surrounding the house. I let myself think about everything that's happened since I decided to try to have a normal human life.

Ally was an unexpected yet welcome surprise. She's sweet and fun and beautiful and the only person at the whole school who thought to befriend the new kid. Granted, at first we were running into each other by chance, but she didn't _have_ to talk to me. But she did.

Aaron really thinks I'm in love with her. That idea is crazy. I haven't even known her for a week, yet the first time I told him about her he jumped to the conclusion that I love her. It's true that I care about her, and I feel the need to protect her, but that does not mean that I love her.

But Aaron's story about what he did to Claire _did_ freak me out. All I can think about is what could happen if I got mad at Ally. Would I _actually_ kill her?

And thinking about that does make me wonder what would happen if I really was dating her. I mean, I honestly wouldn't really _mind_ dating Ally. She's everything I could possibly want in a girlfriend. And I'm sure that when I get to know her there will only be more things I like about her.

But it's illegal. The Vampire Council set the rule thousands of years ago that vampires can't date humans, and the rule really is there for a reason. Aaron's story shows that. But if a vampire really loves a human, it's not like they can stop themselves from doing something about it. And if the human loves the vampire too, it makes everything harder.

I don't _want_ to commit Recalcitrance. I don't think I ever will. But if I ever _did_ love a human, I'm not going to let the Vampire Council take away my normal life with a normal girl.


	4. Chapter 4

This whole problem with the Vampire Council is driving me insane and nothing has even happened yet.

With Ally still suspicious about how I exactly got her to her room that night and Aaron bugging me about loving her and warning me, I'm probably going to go nuts.

Why didn't anyone warn us about the council before? Even the vampires we knew when we changed didn't mention it.

I push all thoughts aside as the last bell of the day rings and I make my way to my locker. I get my things before I make my way to my car. As I pass, I hear something. It's Ally talking to some girl.

"I'm telling you Trish. Something's weird about that whole thing. I know for a fact that there wasn't a spare key anywhere."

"Ally why do you even care so much? I thought that you liked Austin."

"I do. I mean, he's nice, funny, and he seems like a really nice person—"

"Oh you're so in love with him,"

The conversation ends all too quickly due to me running into someone. I look down at the person and am slightly sad to find that it's just my sister. "What do you want?"

"I need a ride home." she simply states before getting into the car.

I roll my eyes as I walk around the car to get to the driver'so side before slowly getting in.

"Wow you're slow.. I think the old age has dawned on you."

"Maybe you're right. Oh wait, you're not because one, vampires don't grow old and two, we're the same age."

"Technically we're not because although we've been vampires for the same amount of time, that's adding to the age we were when we turned and you were 17, I was 15, so you're still older by two years."

I choose to not respond as she's already preoccupied with looking at herself in the mirror. "Has Aaron ever mentioned to you about what happened to his old girlfriend Claire?"

"Claire.."

"From the 60's."

"Oh, her." she says bitterly

"Yeah, her. Anything?"

"Just that she moved away." she pauses. "Why, is there something that you know that I don't?"

"Uh, no. That's why I just asked you."

We get to the house and she makes her way out of my car as quick as possible. I slowly walk inside behind her before putting my bag down and sitting on the couch. Aaron comes over and sits across from me.

"If you're about to give me yet another lecture about dating Ally or loving any human in general, just beware, I'm so not in the mood for it."

"All I did was sit down?"

"Yeah but since last week all you've done is send some not so subtle hints about the council and why they're bad news. Which I still don't get why you're telling me this because one, I'm not dating a human so I'm definitely not dating Ally and two, I don't even like her let alone love her so clearly, you have no idea what you're talking about."

He chuckles. "Why are you laughing?"

"You're so naive. Even if whoever you fell in love with wasn't Ally, the rules would still apply either way. No Vampire can fall in love with a human, it would just be bad news for the both of you." he starts walking away so I follow in suit.

"What makes you so sure I'll fall in love with a human, huh?"

He turns around. "Most vampires usually do go for humans. It's a well-known fact. Humans are in a sense, more attractive to us than fellow vampires are."

"Well couldn't they give a pass to some people?"

"No, they don't give 'passes' to anyone. Vampires cannot date Humans and that's never going to change. But tell me, if you're so sure that you don't have feelings for this girl, why do you care so much?"

He got me there. Why did I care so much? It's not like I'm planning on dating Ally or any human in general in the future. Although I will admit I do have a certain fascination with dating a human. Maybe that's why I'm so curious.

Granted, when I was a human myself I wasn't

exactly Mr. Hot Guy. More or less, I was a loser.

I walk away from Aaron and grab my keys, hoping to get out of that house as fast as possible. I drive about ten minutes before I come across this local park.

I've never seen this place before. It probably wasn't even created or built when I was a kid, a real kid.

I get out and make my way to a vacant swing set before I sit down and gently rock the swing back and forth with my foot.

Before I came back to this town everything was so much more simple. I didn't have Aaron constantly worrying, Payton a constant pain in my ass, and I didn't have a bunch of human girls that I have to steer clear of.

One things for sure is that when I first became

a vampire, I didn't know things would be this tough. Hell, I didn't even know about a vampire council until last week.

I just wish I could turn back time. Turn it all back before I became what I am. Change the events of that night. I wouldn't be alive today but at least I wouldn't have so much drama going on in my life.

I could live as a normal teenager. To even think that makes me want to scream. I can't change what I am. I can't change the night that had happened because it was 130 years ago. I would honestly rather die and stay dead then live this life; A life where I drink human blood to survive, and never grow old, never die.

Never be able to have a family. I always wanted to have kids someday but unfortunately, that's not possible because vampire's can't have kids. I'm sure there's some rule for that too.

I was knocked out of my thoughts by a constant call of my name. "Austin, are you okay?"

I look up and see Ally. "Ally? What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?"

"Uh, I," I swallow. "My brother, was on my case and I just needed to get away for awhile."

"Ah," she sits down on the swing next to me.

"So, back to the big question: Why are you here?"

"I come here to think. As cliche as that sounds, a park is a really good thinking place."

"No no, I completely get it."

"You do?" she asks, narrowing her eyes at me.

"I do."

We sit in a comfortable silence before I decide to start up a new conversation. "Has this park always been here?"

She giggles. "As far as I can remember, I think. I thought you said you lived here before?"

"I did," I laugh nervously. "I just can't remember it because I was only about three or four when I was here last."

"So, are you liking the school so far?"

"Uh, yeah. It's okay. I'm a pretty easy guy with most things."

"Is that so?"

"It is. Which is another reason as to why I don't have many friends, I'm a loser." I whisper the world 'loser'.

"You're not a loser. I'll have you know that I can count all of my friends on one hand."

"I've got you beat, I can count all of mine on one finger," I gesture with my finger,

"Oh really, who?"

"You. Not to sound too cheesy, but you're the only person that I've enjoyed talking to without having to talk to them because of an assignment or activity."

"I must be the luckiest girl in school," she fans herself dramatically.

"Nah, no one cares for me."

"Oh yes they do. Every class of the day I hear at least one girl talk about you, and I know it's you because you're the only Austin with blonde hair and dreamy brown eyes."

"You think I have dreamy brown eyes?" I smirk.

"Hey, I was just quoting the senior girl population."

"Mhm," I mutter in disbelief. "But damn, maybe I do got it." I raise my arms to flex my muscles which causes Ally to laugh.

"You're so full of yourself,"

"Hey, a guy has to be whenever a girls around."

"But, you just called yourself a loser."

"Because it's the truth. Me being cool and 'having it' is a straight up lie. One of these days you'll notice just how much of a loser I actually am."

"Well I'll be sure to keep in fresh in my memory to watch out for any symptoms of loseridous."

"That's not a word but good job," I pat her on the shoulder.

Due to the lack of talking once again, my mind drifts off. I go back to thinking about none of than Aaron and his stupid lecture. Why did he have to say anything? I look at Ally and she's messing with the dirt and rocks under her feet.

I get this vision in my head. I'm not sure what it is but its reoccurring. All I see is a random place; not sure what place it is. "Austin?"

 _Ally calls me. But not in the sense of reality, but in this vision. I turn around and she walks towards me before kissing me. I'm taken aback but ease into it quickly._

 _It's gets more hungry by the minute. It's as if we're longing for each other, not being able to break apart. I can feel my face turning into the beast itself. As it gets worse I try to pull away but Ally makes that impossible._

 _It's as if she's resisting my ability of that even makes sense. I can feel the fangs coming so I quickly push myself away from her and she falls to the floor as do I. She looks up at me, frightened. "A-Austin?"_

 _My minds thinking about a hundred different things just as fast as my heart is beating. I don't give her or myself time to think before I charge towards her and do the unthinkable._

 _I grab her face in my hands before I attack her neck. She screams out in pain and that's the last thing I hear before I'm knocked out of my trance by myself screaming no and me falling off the swing._

"Austin," the real Ally shouts as she gets up and kneels down next to me.

"Wha-What happened?"

"You spaced out again before screaming no and pushing yourself off of the swing. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I get up and brush myself off.

"Are you sure?"

"Ally," I put my hand on her shoulder. "I'm fine."

She doesn't seem so certain but I assume she pushes the thought away as she asks me if I wanted to go get ice cream with her.

Of course, I say yes. Not because of the ice cream because honestly, I don't really care for ice cream. I say yes for two reasons: One, I don't want to go home and Two, I like hanging out with her.

We get to this ice cream parlor that wasn't familiar and we sit down at this booth near the window. As Ally goes to the restroom, I see the kid from school who was talking about doing things to Ally and instantly, my blood boils. He starts walking over here and I start to feel sorry for the kid. He doesn't know what he's getting himself into.

"Can I help you?" I smile.

"You," he points at me.

"Me."

"Why the hell did you punch me?"

"Well, there were numerous amounts of reasons," I stand up. "I decided to go with just one though. You don't talk about Ally that way like she's just a doll. She's a person who has feelings, not just someone you that you can mess around with. So I'll be damned if I'll let you even near her after what you plan on doing to her."

"You touch her, I will hurt you and not even think twice about it. Got that?"

Ally interrupts us by bringing the ice cream that we had ordered to the table. The kid doesn't forget to not so casually glare at me before he walks away.

"What was that all about?"

"Oh nothing, just some guy trying to cause some

trouble. No big deal."

"Some guy?" she scoffs. "That was Brett Matthews, shall I say, the king of our high school."

"What's so great about him?"

"He's the hottest guy in school. All of the girls love him."

"Eh, I'm better," I smirk.

She rolls her eyes which causes me to laugh.

"Ooh, a laugh. That's a sound that can make all of the girls forget about Brett."

"Too bad for them, I'm off the market."

She chokes on her ice cream. "Woah hey, are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm great." she wipes her mouth off. "So, who's the lucky girl?"

"What?" I ask in confusion before realizing what I had just said. "Oh you thou—no, no way. I'm single I'm just saying that I'm not in the dating mood right now. I'm single and I am happy."

"Me too. Well, I'm not single by choice. Of course I would love to be in a long-lasting, committed, relationship but that's just not happening anytime soon."

"Why not?"

She looks taken aback. "Well because, no guys like me. In the eye of the twenty first century generation I'm not exactly the, "pretty girl."

"That's totally not true."

"It totally is." she looks down before scooping some ice cream into her mouth. "Besides, I want a real relationship. All guys want these days is to get into girl's pants."

I want a real relationship. Believe me, I do.

"Well I can assure you that you're pretty and totally, uh dateable in the eye of our generation."

"Don't think so."

"I know so."

"Oh really, who? Who do you know that could possibly think I'm pretty and that would want to date me?"

"Me."


	5. Chapter 5

" _You_?"

"Yes."

"Wow."

She seems more surprised than I thought she'd be. Then again, it isn't like I ever told her I like her or anything. Well, until now. I mean, telling her I'd date her is pretty much telling her I like her, which puts me in a position I really wouldn't like to be in.

I am an idiot.

Now, things are going to be very awkward and very weird and _wow_ I am an idiot. I shouldn't have said that. I really don't want to deal with the consequences that confession is going to bring. But…maybe there won't be consequences. I mean, I _did_ overhear her say she likes me the other day. Maybe we could actually let this go somewhere, have a relationship, be together.

Except we can't.

Recalcitrance is the worst crime a vampire can commit. I don't want to put myself or Ally in danger just because of some feelings. And besides, after hearing about what Aaron did to Claire, I can't be in a situation where I could do that to Ally.

So, awkward and weird it is, I guess.

Ally and I continue walking along in the grass at the park in silence for a while, until we're stopped by a voice.

"Hey, kids. Come here for a second."

We turn around and see a man sitting on a park bench. He looks old. Like, really old. Maybe in his seventies. He's staring at us intently.

"Um, can we help you?" Ally asks.

"You," the man says. He beckons me closer to him. "Let me look at you."

I raise an eyebrow but lean a little closer, keeping a hand on Ally's arm in case this guy turns out to be an old, crazy psychopath who wants to kill us and I need to pull her away.

The man stares at me, narrowing his eyes and pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose.

"You look familiar," he says. " _Very_ familiar."

"Well, I'm almost certain we've never met," I tell him. "I just moved here, and-"

"You remind me of a neighbor I had when I was a kid. He and I would play basketball every day, but then one day he just disappeared. What was his name…"

I swallow, a memory of about sixty years ago playing through my head in which I shot hoops with a cute little ten-year-old neighbor I had. Crap.

"Sorry, sir, I have no idea what you're talking about," I say.

"You look _exactly_ like him. Well, exactly like him sixty years ago."

I shoot a nervous glance at Ally, but she's just looking at the man like he's crazy.

"Well, I'm pretty sure if I was the same kid you played basketball with sixty years ago, I'd look a little older," I say.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess you're right," the man says.

I nod and start gently pulling Ally away. But then I hear the man's voice behind us.

"Austin! That was his name!"

I speed up my pace, keeping my grip tight on Ally.

Charlie. That's the man's name. An image of a little brunette trying to get the ball in the impossibly high basket flashes through my mind.

"Austin, did he just-"

"Must be a weird coincidence," I say, cutting her off before she can finish her question.

"Y-yeah," she says.

I slow down once we're far enough away and ease up my grip on her arm. But she slides her hand down and intertwines her fingers with mine, squeezing my hand. I glance over at her and fight the blush creeping onto my cheeks as a small smile forms on my face.

A word screams like a warning siren in my head.

Recalcitrance.

Well, technically we aren't dating. And there aren't any specific rules about holding hands with a human, as far as I know. Nor are there any rules against having feelings for a human. I just can't act on them. And as long as we're being technical, she's the one who's acting on _her_ feelings, not the other way around.

So this is completely legal and safe.

We walk together, swinging our hands, like normal friends do.

* * *

The next day in history, I pay even less attention than usual, if that's possible. My eyes wander to the clock, and then Ally, and then the clock, and then Ally, and then the clock again. I'm pretty sure Ally catches me staring at her a few times, but I don't really notice. I'm too lost in my thoughts.

Before I know what's happening, I'm sucked into another vision. It's the same one I've been having, where I go from kissing Ally to attacking her in seconds.

" _No_!" I shout when I come out of it, the sound of Ally's screams ringing in my head. I blink a few times and look around the classroom, see all the students giving me strange looks, Ally looking worried, and the teacher looking furious.

I clear my throat. "No!" I repeat weakly. "I don't want President Roosevelt to die. He's my favorite president."

The teacher sets a pink slip of paper on my desk and I sigh, shutting my eyes and rubbing my temples.

After class, Ally hurries over to me.

"Are you okay?" she asks. "You-"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I tell her. "I just…fell asleep in class and had a nightmare. I'm okay. Promise."

"Okay," she says with a small smile. "Have fun in detention."

"Oh, I'll try," I say, smiling back.

The rest of my classes are just as boring, but fortunately I don't have any more visions. In detention I do my homework, sleep, and pretty much sit there, bored out of my mind.

When I finally get home, Aaron is waiting at the door.

"Where've you been?" he asks me.

"Detention."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Phone died. Texting in class."

"Is that why you got detention?"

"No."

"Then why'd you get detention?"

I swallow, debating on whether or not to tell him about my visions. "I yelled out of turn in class."

"Well, why'd you do that?"

"I, uh…um…I-I had a vision," I finally confess, looking at him. "I've been getting the same one a lot lately. No other ones. Just this one."

Aaron knits his eyebrows together and walks over to the kitchen table, sitting down. I sit across from him.

"Visions?"

"Yeah. I don't know what's causing them."

"Well, you said you're having the same one over and over again. What is it?"

I bite my lip, hesitating. But if I don't tell him, he can't help.

"Ally, uh, she's saying my name. And then I turn around and she's there, k-kissing me." I avoid Aaron's gaze. "It, um, it gets pretty intense, I guess, but then I start turning. I pull away from her and she sees me and gets scared, and then I attack her."

"That's it?"

I nod, looking down. "Yeah."

"Well, if anything, those visions could be the vampire part of you warning you, reminding you of what could happen if you're in too deep with this girl."

"The vampire part of me doesn't have its own consciousness."

"Either way, take it as a warning. You don't wanna hurt Ally, do you?" I shake my head. "Then don't act on your feelings. Not to mention that that'd be Recalcitrance, and-"

"I'm not here to have another lecture about Recalcitrance. I get it, okay? Dating a human is illegal. Biggest crime a vampire can commit. I _know_. I'm not gonna date her."

"Good. And besides, what're the odds she even likes you back?"

"Pretty high, considering I heard her tell her friend the other day that she does."

"Great," Aaron says sarcastically.

"I told you not to worry," I tell him.

"I'm not worrying."

I roll my eyes and get up, walking upstairs to my room.

I'd never commit Recalcitrance. I wouldn't want to break the law, and I get why it's there. The visions I'm having are enough to freak me out, anyway. But I can't help but think about what a relationship with Ally would be like.

* * *

 **Ally's POV**

Austin Moon is a mystery to me. I feel like I know him, but at the same time it's like he's hiding something. When he was talking to that old man at the park, he looked nervous. And the man seemed to know who he was, even knew his name. It sounds crazy, though, considering the man supposedly remembers Austin from sixty years ago, but something about their conversation didn't sit well with me, and I want answers.

Which is how I find myself sitting next to the same man on the same park bench while Austin's in detention.

"You're the girl from yesterday, aren't you?" he asks me.

"Yes, hi. I'm Ally. I was here with my friend Austin. You, uh, you said you recognized him."

"Nice to meet you, Ally. I'm Charlie. Austin was your blonde friend, yes?"

I nod. "You said he reminded you of some neighbor you had back when you were a kid."

"Right. I had a neighbor, I think he must've been about seventeen when I met him, who looked exactly like your friend Austin. Even had the same name. I saw him every day, saw him like an older brother."

"You said he disappeared."

"Yeah, well, after years of being neighbors, he just vanished. It was strange though. It seemed like he didn't get any older over the years."

"Huh."

"Maybe it's my old memory playing tricks on me, but I could swear that when I was fifteen, he was still living at home and didn't look a day over seventeen, even though he should've been twenty-two. But then one day he just…vanished. I never saw him again."

"That's strange," I say. "And you said my friend looks exactly like him?"

"They could be twins," Charlie replies with a nod.

"Well, thank you," I tell him.

"Of course," he replies.

I get up and walk away. There's no way Austin and the guy Charlie is talking about are the same person. It's impossible, of course. He couldn't have been seventeen then and still be seventeen now, sixty years later. But still. It's a bit odd that Charlie's old neighbor was the same age as Austin, had the same name, and looked exactly like him.

An image of Austin in a lab coat mixing some elixir for immortality and laughing like an evil scientist flashes through my mind, and I laugh a bit at how ridiculous I'm being. Of course Charlie has the wrong guy. The name is a bit of a coincidence, but Charlie probably doesn't have a clear memory of what his neighbor looked like. Maybe he saw Austin's blonde hair and just made a connection.

I chuckle and shake my head. Austin may not even be hiding anything in the first place. Besides, if he is, he'll have to tell me eventually.

He _would_ like to date me, after all.


	6. Chapter 6

Ally POV

This whole Austin situation has left me so confused. First, he likes me, well sort of. Second, the old man that supposedly knew him from so many years ago. That part has me freaked out the most. Obviously.

I really should just push all thoughts aside considering Austin likes me. He actually likes me! This is the best thing since my dad gave me chicken fingers for my allowance one time.

I want to confront him about all of the secrets and the hiding but I don't want to make it weird or ruin any sort of relationship we have going for us. I guess I'll just have to deal with it for now.

I'm supposed to be meeting him later today and to say the least, I'm kind of nervous. Sure, all we're doing is hanging out but that could mean a lot of things for two people in a relationship. Woah, back up. No relationship. Just friends. Friends. Buddies. Partners. Old Pals. Oh, shut up Ally.

Hanging out wasn't the problem I'm having. The problem I'm having is I don't know how I feel about hanging out.

I arrive at the local park that has basically become the hang out spot for Austin and I as I sit on a swing and wait.

About five minutes later, Austin taps my shoulder. I jump. "Oh god!"

He chuckles. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine." I sit back down. "So, how are you?"

"Since yesterday?" he raises his eyebrow. "I'm pretty good. How about yourself?"

"Eh, so so." I say with a gesture of my hand.

There's a awkward silence before I, or we, speak up.

"This is awkward, isn't it?" we both say.

I chuckle. "Yeah, it is. I'm not sure why though."

"If it's about that guy, then I'm sorry. I have no idea who that guy is, or why he thinks he knows me for some reason."

"It's fine. I hadn't even been thinking about that." I lie.

"Okay..." he looks away.

Wow, great start. Awesome conversation. "So, what do you want to do today?"

"Doesn't matter to me. We might as well do something fun and not spend our last day of freedom being totally boring."

He stands up. "So, what's there to do?"

"Hm." I ponder. "Let's go on a drive. I wanna take you somewhere." I smirk.

"Okay. Your car?"

I nod before walking next to him as we make way to my car. We get in and I start driving to my destination.

"This place is amazing. Well, for me. I love going there when I need to get away from everyone for awhile."

"I know what you mean. I have one of those kinds of places too."

I smile. About an hour later, we arrive at the cliff. "Is this the part where you kill me and dump me in the ocean?"

I smirk. "Guess you'll have to find out."

We walk up a small hill of the cliff and through these trees before I sit down on the edge of the cliff. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Yeah." he breathes.

"I love coming here."

"I can see why."

"You scared of heights?"

"Nah."

"Are you scared of bugs?"

"Not really."

"Are you scared of anything?"

"Depends on what it is I guess."

"Sounds confusing."

"It is."

We sit in a comfortable silence before I decide to speak up. "Ever jumped off a cliff before?"

He gives me this look of confusion as I begin to stand up.

"Uh, no. I can't say that I have."

"Wanna do it now?"

"Uh-"

"Too late, let's jump!" I exclaim before jumping off the cliff.

I scream as the air fills my lungs. I hit the water almost instantly. I come back up to the surface and look up, somewhat shielding my eyes from the sun.

As I look up, I notice that I don't see Austin. I look around for a second before I'm literally scared half to death by him saying 'boo'.

So naturally, I scream. "How? When?"

"You have to speak full sentences in order for me to understand you." he chuckles.

"When did you jump in? I didn't even feel it."

He looks away for a second before looking back at me. "I jumped while you were under the water."

"I didn't see your feet or the bubbles or anything though."

"I think you're getting too much sun." he jokes.

I know I'm not. This is weird. It's just one thing after another. I'm almost positive that I didn't see him jump in. Plus, in order for him to jump in he would've had to jump in right after me and he didn't. I was underwater maybe fifteen seconds.

I was taken out of my thoughts by being hit in the face by some water. "Hey!"

"You were staring at me for like five minutes. If you want to win my heart, staring is not the thing to do." he jokes.

I gawk at him before splashing him in the face with some water. Sure, it's not as powerful as his splash was but it still counts.

I lay back in the water, letting the sun hit my body as I close my eyes. "Ah..."

I open my eyes due to a repeating noise of someone walking away. "Austin?"

I see someone watching me from at the top of the cliff. Their in all black and their face is cover e so I can't quite make out who it is. "Austin!"

"What?" he says from behind me.

"There's someone at the top of the cliff watching me."

He looks up. "No there's not."

"I swear there was.."

"I think you're getting too much sun."

"Yeah, maybe you're right."

"Let's go." he starts swimming.

I follow behind him as we make our way to the shorter side of the cliff so we can climb up. That was so weird though. Who was that person? Was I really just hallucinating?

We get to the cliff and Austin climbs up with ease. He then turns around and holds his hands out to help me.

I grab his hands and he pulls me up with no problem at all. "Man, you're as light as a feather."

"We're all wet still. We can't get back in the car like this."

"We can just sit here and enjoy the view until we dry?"

"Sure."

We sit in silence as we watch the water and sun and everything beautiful that nature has to offer.

"I love it."

He looks down at me. "Love what?"

"This place. I love coming here. No one else that I know even knows that this place exists. So keep this place our little secret." I wink.

"Got it. But I know what you mean. I have a place like this too. Well, not exactly like this, but I mean a place where I can just lay low for awhile and not have to worry about anything."

"Please," I scoff. "Like you, Mr. Perfect has to worry about something."

"There's a lot you still don't know, Ally. You'd be surprised at just how much I actually have to worry about."

"Like what?"

"My older brother has this image of me, something perfect. He tells me about certain things and keeps warning me not to screw up and it all just gets really stressful. I mean, I know that he's only looking out for me but does he not have any faith in me to trust that I understand?"

"Sometimes trust is earned. If you messed up something in the past then that could've effected how he feels towards you or that subject now."

"Yeah I guess that makes sense. Plus I have to look after my little sister too. You never know when she might get into some type of trouble."

Speaking of, his phone rings. He quickly glances at his phone. "Trouble calls."

"Hello?"

I hear someone screaming and talking really fast into the phone before they stop talking and the call disconnects. Austin jumps up. "What happened?"

I stand up.

"I don't know. My sisters in trouble. We gotta go, I have to take you home."

"No." I stop and grab his wrist.

"Ally, we really need to go."

"I meant no to me going home. I can help you."

"I really don't think you should—"

"Please?"

"Alright, come on."

I grab his hand and we start sprinting back to the car.

I hear him mutter something along the lines of, "Please, don't let it be too bad."


End file.
